Which Nvidia GPU Is Equivalent To The ROG Xbox Ally X?
Nintendo currently dominates the handheld gaming market with the Switch family of consoles, but it faces stiff competition from platforms such as the Steam Deck and the ROG Xbox Ally. While the former is considered a handheld gaming PC, the latter is touted as a mobile Xbox, raising the question of how its GPU compares to the graphics cards in modern Xbox consoles and gaming PCs. Let's just say that the "X" in its name is a tad misleading.
The ROG Xbox Ally web page states that all ROG Xbox Ally models feature "AMD Radeon Graphics," which doesn't give us much information, but that's only because the Xbox Ally X's graphics processor is built into its AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor. According to AMD's website, the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme has AMD RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture, 16 graphics cores, and a frequency of up to 2,900 MHz. Based on that, we can conclude that the ROG Ally X is about as robust as a GTX 1650 (or a Radeon RX 6400 for AMD users).
While it would be foolish to ask if an ROG Xbox Ally X could ever compare to the Xbox Series X, does it hold a candle to the Xbox Series S? Almost. When we researched which Nvidia GPU matched the Series S, we concluded the GTX 1650 Super was a close match. For comparison, playing "Grand Theft Auto V" on a GTX 1650 Super at max settings at 1080p averages 66 FPS, whereas the 1650 only ekes out an average of 49 FPS. Granted, Xbox games default to 30 FPS in Fidelity mode, but these cards still deliver a steady 30 FPS.
There's more to performance than just GPU power
Even though the ROG Xbox Ally X has "Xbox" in its name, it's still ultimately a small-factor gaming laptop without a keyboard. Ergo, it is just as vulnerable to the whims of game optimization as any other gaming computer.
When we reviewed the Xbox Ally X, we were impressed by its performance. Even though it only had the equivalent of a GTX 1650, it still handled graphically demanding games like "Cyberpunk 2077" like a champ — so long as ray tracing was turned off. And outlets such as TechPowerUp mostly agree with those numbers. According to the site, the Ally X outperformed rival devices such as the MSI Claw 8 in "Cyberpunk 2077," but the MSI Claw 8 somehow achieved higher framerates than the Xbox Ally X while running "Control" and "Shadow of the Tomb Raider" at 1080p. The Claw 8 is slightly weaker thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, so it should always deliver lower framerates. Its outperformance of the Xbox Ally X in some titles shows that "equivalent Nvidia GPU" isn't always a reliable metric.
If we're being blunt, people who are sticklers for fidelity and performance are better off buying an alternative to the Xbox Ally X. Asus sells plenty. Take the Asus TUF Gaming F17 2023 edition. Sure, it's older and costs $1,149.99 compared to the Xbox Ally X's $999, but it comes standard with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, which is almost as powerful as the RTX 3060 Ti — the GPU equivalent of the Xbox Series X. Sure, the F17 isn't as portable as the Xbox Ally X, but that's a small price to pay for vastly superior graphics and framerates at 1440p.